BRUSH
Keeping It Clean

This recipe is so elastic and adaptable, it reminds me of the soap opera ladies my grandmother used to watch; there was always a "casserole in the oven" and enough for an army. These casseroles always included cream of mushroom soup and beautifully cooked chicken and peas.

The snowy post-holiday days are upon us, so here's a good one for using leftover turkey, chicken, or even roasted or poached salmon, so you can use what you have and you don't need to run to the market in the snow. Please read the entire recipe before you start.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cut up:

• 3 to 3.5 c. cooked chicken, turkey or fish into bite-size pieces, set aside

Sauté for 5 minutes in:

• 2 Tbsp. butter or olive oil, or a mixture of the two
• ½ lb. sliced mushrooms, any kind
• 3 to 4 scallions or shallots, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, grated or finely minced

Add to the sauté pan:

• 1 can (10 3/4 oz.) cream of mushroom soup or 1 can (10 3/4 oz.) of cream of chicken soup
• 1 can full of milk (skim milk is fine)
• ¼ tsp. white pepper
• ¼ tsp. fresh ground nutmeg, very optional

Stir and heat slowly until a smooth sauce forms, about 6 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook:

• 3/4 lb. very thin spaghetti, broken into pieces

Then add:

• ½ pint cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved
• 10 oz. package of frozen peas, thawed
• 1/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Pour into a large casserole dish (9" x 13") that has been sprayed with vegetable spray. Top with more Parmesan cheese or Italian breadcrumbs.

Bake approximately 45 minutes, until the whole thing is bubbly and golden.

Serves 6-8.

Do ahead notes:

• Combine all of the parts of the dish but add the peas still frozen. It will help to cool it down.
• If this recipe is too large, divide it into two casseroles and freeze one, unbaked, for another busy day.
• You can add more or less of the base casserole ingredients (the chicken, for instance) if you have a lot of something or not quite enough of something else. This recipe is very flexible!

Notes to convert this recipe to nondairy:

• Use a soy-based mushroom soup.
• Use chicken broth instead of milk.
• Top casserole with plain bread crumbs instead of cheese. Or substitute tofu cheese for milk-based cheese.

a Cookie Lady recipe